{"title":"The Transformation of Cattle Feet to Torpedo Oil: A Case Study in Nazi German Wartime Recycling","authors":"Chad B. Denton","doi":"10.1177/09683445231161309","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"In January 1940, the Wehrmacht had only a two-month supply of torpedo oil, an irreplaceable lubricant derived solely from the feet and shinbones of slaughtered cattle. The Wehrmacht resolved this shortage by appointing the man responsible for its supply during the First World War: Alfons Knetsch. This case study shows not only the importance of knowledge transfer from one war to the other but also how competing industrial interests shaped Nazi recycling policy and how an efficient, vigorously managed recycling organization could buy time for the research and development of substitutes, overcoming seemingly impossible raw material bottlenecks.","PeriodicalId":44606,"journal":{"name":"War in History","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2023-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"War in History","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09683445231161309","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"HISTORY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In January 1940, the Wehrmacht had only a two-month supply of torpedo oil, an irreplaceable lubricant derived solely from the feet and shinbones of slaughtered cattle. The Wehrmacht resolved this shortage by appointing the man responsible for its supply during the First World War: Alfons Knetsch. This case study shows not only the importance of knowledge transfer from one war to the other but also how competing industrial interests shaped Nazi recycling policy and how an efficient, vigorously managed recycling organization could buy time for the research and development of substitutes, overcoming seemingly impossible raw material bottlenecks.
期刊介绍:
War in History journal takes the view that military history should be integrated into a broader definition of history, and benefits from the insights provided by other approaches to history. Recognising that the study of war is more than simply the study of conflict, War in History embraces war in all its aspects: > Economic > Social > Political > Military Articles include the study of naval forces, maritime power and air forces, as well as more narrowly defined military matters. There is no restriction as to period: the journal is as receptive to the study of classical or feudal warfare as to Napoleonic. This journal provides you with a continuous update on war in history over many historical periods.